Road building implement



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 24, 1970 o. D. EVANS ROAD BUILDING IMPLEMENT Filed March 22, 1968 Feb. 24, 1970 o. D. EVANS ROAD BUILDING IMPLEMEN,T

2 Sheets-Sheet z WEN D EVANS BY Filed March 22, 1968 I M ATTORNEYS 3,496,844 ROAD BUILDING IMPLEMENT Owen D. Evans, Sioux Falls, S. Dak., assignor to J. D. Evans Equipment Company, Sioux Falls, S. Dak., a corporation Filed Mar. 22, 1968, Ser. No. 715,296 Int. Cl. E01c 19/00 US. Cl. 94-40 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An implement for intermixing superposed layers of earth in the building up of a layered road bed, including front and rear traction units and an intermediate digging, mixing, and earth moistening unit. The intermediate unit includes beam structure supporting a liquid tank and rigidly secured to the rear traction unit, and a support frame articulated with the front traction unit. A plurality of earth digging and mixing harrow elements depend from the beam structure and are movable therewith in directions to selectively engage the ground or be elevated thereabove. A pump and spray nozzles direct liquid to the ground in a pressurized spray.

Background of the invention In the building of roads, it is often desired to build a road bed in superposed layers of different types of earth or of varying degrees of coarseness of earth, gravel, crushed rock or similar material. Desirably, each layer should be at least partially intermixed with adjacent layers to minimize or altogether prevent later seepage of one layer into another, and to provide a solid foundation for the surface pavement material.

Summary of the invention An important object of this invention is the provision of a mobile implement which will thoroughly mix a layer of road bed material with a portion of an underlying layer of material, whereby to achieve a gradual and uniform change in the material or texture of the earth between the top and bottom of the road bed.

Another object of this invention is the provision of an implement which is capable of intermixing the road bed layers in a minimum of time, and which has sufficient traction to easily move over soft or slippery ground.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of means for effectively controlling accumulation of dust raised in the mixing operation.

To the above ends, an implement is provided comprising a pair of front and rear traction units, each including a prime mover and a pair of drive wheels coupled to their respective prime mover; a liquid tank disposed between the traction units; and tank supporting means including beam structure rigidly secured to the tank and to the rear traction unit, and a support frame pivotally connected at one end to the beam structure on a transverse generally horizontal axis and pivotally connected at its other end to the front traction unit on a generally vertical axis. A plurality of laterally spaced earthmixing harrow elements depend from the beam structure; and elevating means, operatively connected to the beam structure and support frame, is operative to move the beam structure in generally upward and downward directions to move the harrow elements downwardly into the ground or to raise the same to inoperative positions above the ground, for road travel. A pump and conduit means including a pair of spray nozzles are operative to discharge liquid downwardly to the ground, under pressure, to prevent raising of dust and to enhance the mixing of the road bed material.

States Patent Description of the drawings FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation of the implement of this invention, some parts being broken away and some parts being shown in section;

FIG. 2 is a view in top plan, some parts being broken away and some parts being shown in section;

FIG. 3 is a view in rear elevation;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary detail in front elevation, as seen from the line 44 of FIG. 1, some parts being broken away and some parts being shown in section;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view, partly in side elevation and partly in section, taken substantially on the line 55 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6, is an enlarged fragmentary view in side elevation of a portion of the conduit means and liquid discharge nozzle of the implement of this invention; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view in top plan of the nozzle of FIG. 6, some parts being broken away and some parts being shown in section.

Detailed description A pair of longitudinally spaced front and rear traction units are indicated generally at 1 and 2 respectively, the front traction unit 1 comprising a chassis or frame 3, a prime mover in the nature of an internal combustion engine 4 having driving connection to a pair of pneumatic tire equipped drive wheels 5. The front traction unit 1 is further provided with an operators cab 6, from which the operation of the implement is controlled. The rear traction unit 2 also comprises a chassis or frame 7, a prime mover in the nature of an internal combustion engine 8 mounted thereon, and a pair of pneumatic tireequipped drive wheels 9. Operation of the engines 4 and 8 is controlled by suitable control means, not shown, but contained within the operators cab 6. r

A generally rectangular liquid tank 10 is disposed between the front and rear traction units 1 and 2 respectively, and is supported by means including beam structure 11, the beam structure 11 comprises a plurality of laterally spaced parallel beams 12 underlying the tank 10 and side beam members providing reinforcing framework 13 that are Welded or otherwise rigidly secured to the sidewalls of the tank 10 to stiffen and reinforce the same. The beam structure 11 is rigidly secured to the rear traction unit frame 7 by welding or other suitable means. Further, the beams 12 are welded or otherwise rigidly secured to the bottom of the tank 10.

The tank 10 and beam structure 11 is supported on the front traction unit 1 by a support frame 14 comprising a V-shaped yoke 15, a rigid transverse member 16 and a pair of laterally spaced side frame members 17. The transverse member 16 is disposed between the rear end of the traction unit frame 3 and the front end of the tank 10, the side frame members 17 being welded or otherwise rigidly secured at opposite ends of the transverse member 16 and extending rearwardly each alongside an adjacent side of the tank 10. The rear ends of the side frame members 17 are pivotally connected to the framework 13 by axially aligned stub shafts or the like 18, the common axis of the stub shafts 18 being horizontally disposed and extending transversely of the direction of travel of the implement. The front end of the yoke 15 is pivotally mounted on a generally vertical shaft 19 mounted in a supporting standard 20 which forms a part of the traction unit frame 3, intermediate the front drive wheels 5.

It will be here noted that the respective drive wheels 5 and 9 are mounted on straight axles 21 and 22 respectively driven by their respective engines 4 and 8, and that steering of the implement is effected by pivotally moving the front traction unit 1 on the axis of the generally vertical shaft 19, relative to the support frame 14, tank and beam structure 11, and rear traction unit 2. Means for pivotally moving the front traction unit 1 on the axis of the shaft 19 comprises a pair of fiuid pressure operated cylinders 23 having rear closed ends pivotally secured to a rigid bracket portion 24 of the yoke 15, and cooperating piston equipped plunger rods 25 that are pivotally connected at their free ends to laterally outwardly projecting arms 26 of the standard 20. The cylinders 23 are disposed in a conventional fluid pressure system not shown and controlled by conventional control means within the operators cab 6.

As above mentioned, the machine of this invention has for its purpose the intermixing, at least partially, of a layer of road bed material with an underlying layer thereof. A top layer of earthen material, such as sand or gravel, is indicated at 27, an underlying layer being indicated at 28, in FIG. 1. As shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5, a plurality of digging and mixing elements hereinafter referred to as harrow elements 29, depend from the front end portion of the beam structure 11 in spaced apart relationship transversely of the machine. Each of the harrow elements 29 comprises a heavy plate-like shank 30 having an upper end portion 31 disposed between an adjacent pair of the plate-like beams 12 and rigidly secured thereto by nut-equipped bolts or the like 32. Earth engaging and mixing shoes 33 are welded or otherwise rigidly secured to the lower end portions of the shanks 30, each of the shoes 33 being provided with a shovel-like blade or tooth 34.

The above-described tank-supporting means further includes a pair of laterally spaced levers 35 that are pivotally connected at their front ends to a bracket 36 on the yoke 16, the rear ends of the levers 35 being pivotally connected to the upper ends of a pair of rigid lifting links 37 the lower ends of which are connected to the beam structure 11, as shown by dotted lines in FIG. 1 and indicated at 38. A pair of hydraulic rams 39 are operatively connected to the transverse frame members 16 and to the intermediate portions of the levers 35 for imparting simultaneous movement to the levers 35 in upward and downward directions to raise and lower the front end of the tank 10 and beam structure 11, whereby to move the harrow elements 29 generally vertically between operative lowered positions wherein the shoes 33 and teeth 24 are embedded in the ground, as shown by full lines in FIG. 1, and raised inoperative positions, as shown by dotted lines in FIG. 1, for road travel. The arrangement of the levers 35, links 37 and arms 39 is such that, when the harrow elements 29 are raised or lowered, the tank 10, beam structure 11, rear frame 7 and rear engine 8 pivot together as a unit on the axis of the rear axle 22. At the same time, the support frame 14, front frame 3 and parts carried thereby pivot as a unit on the axis of the front axle 21. During forward movement of the machine, with the harrow elements 29 embedded in the road bed, the harrow elements 29 plow through the top layer 2 7 and a portion of the underlying layer 28 causing the same to be intermixed as indicated at 40 in FIG. 1, rearwardly of the harrow elements 29.

A high pressure liquid pump 41 is mounted on the rear frame 7 and is driven by suitable means, not shown, and is connected to the liquid tank 10 by an inlet conduit 42, see FIG. 2. A discharge conduit 43 extends from the pump 41 forwardly through the tank 10 to branch conduits 44 that terminate in a pair of laterally spaced nozzles 45 that are disposed above and just forwardly of the harrow elements 29. The nozzles 45 comprise plate-like members 46 and a semicylindrical notch 47 in the discharge ends of the branch conduits 44, the plate-like members 46 being welded or otherwise rigidly secured to the discharge ends of the branch conduits 44. As shown, the notches 47 lie in the bottom halves of the branch conduits 44 and cooperate with their respective plate-like members 46 to define discharge slots 48 from each of which the liquid is discharged downwardly toward the ground in a fanshaped spray extending transversely of the machine. With reference particularly to FIGS. 4-6, it Will be seen that the plate-like members 46 are vertically elongated to project downwardly beyond the bottom portions of the, slots 48 to aid in producing a relatively fiat fan-shaped spray. A conventional control valve 49, diagrammatically shown in FIG. 2, is interposed in the discharge conduit 43, and may be assumed to be remotely controlled by conventional means, not shown, in the operators cab 6. The liquid, such as water, is delivered from the tank 10 through the nozzles 45 in such quantity and under such pressure as to effectively control dust which might arise from the digging and mixing operation, and further aids in the mixing of the layers 27 and 28 by the harrow elements 29.

A second discharge conduit 50 extends from the pump 41 upwardly and rearwardly of the rear frame 7 to branch conduits 51 which terminate in laterally spaced nozzles 52, the branch conduits 51 being formed to dispose the nozzles 52 in positions to direct liquid from the pump 41 angularly rearwardly and downwardly. As shown in FIG. 3, the branch conduits 51 are supported from the rear frame 7 at a substantially higher level than the branch conduits 44 by a pair of laterally spaced legs 53 and brace members 54. A valve 55 is interposed in the conduit 50, for controlling discharge of water from the nozzles 52, the valve 55 being similar to the valve '49 and operated in the same manner. The elevated position of the nozzles 52, together with their angular disposition, as shown in FIG. 1, enables the nozzles 52 to direct water over a substantially greater area than do the nozzles 45 for efficient dust control and wide soaking of the road bed.

The tank 10 and beam structure 11 are of sufiicient weight so that, when the hydraulic rams 39 are operated to permit downward swinging movement of the levers 35, the blades or teeth 34 of the harrow elements 29 will dig sharply into the ground upon forward movement of the machine, the depth of penetration of the harrow elements into the ground being controlled by the hydraulic rams 39. Obviously, when the tank 10 is full of liquid, such as water, the weight of the tank 10 is substantially increased. Water is introduced into the tank 10 through an opening in the top thereof, the opening being normally covered by a cover or hatch 56.

This invention has been thoroughly tested and found to be completely satisfactory for the accomplishment of the objectives set forth; and while a commercial embodiment of road building implement is shown and described, it will be understood that the same is capable of modification without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A road building implement comprising:

(a) a pair of front and rear traction units each including a frame, a prime mover on each frame, and a pair of traction wheels driven by their respective prime mover;

(b) a tank for liquid disposed between said front and rear traction units;

(c) tank supporting means including beam structure rigidly secured to said tank and having a rear end rigidly connected to said rear traction unit frame and a front end disposed rearwardly of said front traction unit, and a support frame pivotally connected to said tank on a generally horizontal axis extending transversely of the direction of travel of the implement and to said front traction unit for steering movements of said front traction unit relative to said rear traction unit, support frame, and tank on a generally vertical axis;

(d) a plurality of laterally spaced ground-engaging harrow elements depending from said beam structure adjacent the front end of said beam structure;

(e) said tank supporting means further including mech- 5 anism connected to the front end of said beam structure and to said support frame for pivotally moving said beam structure and tank on the axis of the traction wheels of said rear traction unit to dispose the harrow elements selectively in and out of digging engagement with the ground;

(f) pumping means for delivering liquid from said tank under pressure;

(g) and liquid conduit means including a pair of laterally spaced spray nozzles for directing liquid from the tank and downwardly toward the ground adjacent said harrow elements.

2. The road building implement defined in claim 1, in which said conduit means includes a conduit portion extending to the rear end of said rear traction member and terminating in a second pair of laterally spaced spray nozzles disposed to direct liquid angularly rearwardly and downwardly to the ground rearwardly of the implement.

3. The road building implement defined in claim 2, in which said conduit means includes a pair of valves for controlling discharge of liquid from said tank through each of said pairs of spray nozzles independently of the other pair of nozzles,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,938,023 12/1933 Ingalls 9439.5 2,134,245 10/ 1938 Carswell 9444 3,224,347 12/1965 Seaman 9440 3,260,179 7/1966 Moreira 94-50 3,316,822 5/1967 Seaman 9450 3,324,583 6/1967 Harris.

20 JACOB L. NACKENOFF, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 37-129; 1117 

